


Irreversible

by Foarrin



Series: Inescapable + Irreversible Duology [2]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Afterlife, Brothers, F/M, Ghosts, Souls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 16:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foarrin/pseuds/Foarrin
Summary: Sequel to Inescapable. When Mal and Ben returned from the Land of the Dead, something else followed them home. Now, a vengeful spirit is bent on possessing Ben and taking the throne of Auradon for himself, as he considers himself the rightful heir. What's worse is he's not lying. Mal/Ben.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants or its prequel Isle of the Lost.
> 
> This story is the sequel to my other story "Inescapable". I suggest reading it first if you haven't because certain plots points and information won't make as much sense without it. Thanks!

"We should have told him years ago," Belle said softly. She stood beside her husband, Beast, in the forest clearing. In front of them was a tombstone surrounded by fallen leaves. It was mid-October. Two months had passed since Ben's coronation and almost death by Maleficent's curse.

Beast sighed, his gaze trained on the headstone. It was the only thing in the clearing, almost as if it was meant to be hidden like a lost object in the woods. "Maybe so. But Ben doesn't need this right now. Things have just gotten back to normal. He's just become king. Already, he's had to vouch for Mal's peculiar behavior. He's got too much on his plate already, Belle."

"Not to mention the wedding planning. I think he's almost more nervous than Mal," Belle added softly, agreeing with him. "I can't believe our little boy has become king and gotten engaged." She sighed happily and then frowned. "I just...we almost lost another son. We can't hide this from him forever."

"There was nothing else we could do to save Blaine, you know that," Beast said. He tore his gaze away from the stone to glance at his wife. "We can't think about how things would have been. We can only think of them how they actually are now."

Belle nodded and swallowed. "He would have been twenty-one today." She looked back at the headstone. "My baby Blaine. Twenty-one."

A twig snapped in the woods to their right, and Beast's gaze moved to scan the treeline. He put an arm around Belle's shoulders. "It's getting dark. We should leave."

Belle nodded and allowed Beast to steer her out of the clearing in the direction opposite of the noise.

* * *

A few feet into the treeline stood a young man with dirty blond hair. His form was opaque so that the trees behind him could be seen through him. He cursed as he saw Beast and Belle walking away. "I'm still not used to being solid again," he grumbled. He glanced at the small black lizard perched on a tree branch close to his shoulder. "But I'd guess you aren't used to being so tiny either, huh, Maleficent?"

The lizard just blinked curiously at him before rolling its eyes.

Blaine frowned and looked back toward the clearing. His parents were gone. "Fools," he muttered. "Lousy, aren't they?"

The lizard cocked its head, and Blaine grinned. "Right, you don't know the full story." He reached up and held out his palm to the lizard. It crawled into his hand, its feet sinking a few millimeters into his hand so it appeared to be standing in flesh colored water. No, Blaine definitely wasn't fully solid yet, but he was becoming more so by the passing day.

He stepped out into the clearing and strode over to the tombstone. He pointed at it. "See? That's me. Or, what's left of my body under the ground, I guess. I was four when I died." He peered at the lizard to make sure it was paying attention. "I'm the rightful heir to the throne of Auradon, not my bratty baby brother. Not like I ever met him. Belle didn't get pregnant with him until a few months after I died. I guess Beast just really needed an heir, regardless of who it was."

Blaine grimaced and sat down on the ground in front of his headstone. He allowed the lizard to crawl out of his hand onto the top of the stone. Then he reached out and touched it. His form shimmered white, and he quickly withdrew his hand. He rubbed his fingers together, watching the white glow fade and return to a normal flesh color. "Strange how objects can anchor us to this world, isn't it?"

He cleared his throat. "Alright," he said, leaning forward to be eye-to-eye with the lizard. "You're probably wondering how I'm here now. Well, I have you to thank for that, Maleficent. You see, I was not a normal soul. After dying, I was able to stay near the castle by feeding on the grief of my parents. But when I found out they were having another baby, I was outraged. My rage only grew as my dear baby brother did. My rage kept me focused on their world, the world of the living. I was not drawn to the afterlife. I was a vengeful spirit."

He leaned back on the heels of his hands, smiling. "When I found out your curse was going to kill Ben, I was thrilled. Finally, justice would be served. They would lose both sons and be too old to safely have another child to be the heir. They would lose everything. And I could finally move on. I was excited to see Ben get on the ferry that would take him to the afterlife. I would leave after him. It was perfect. But then...your daughter showed up."

The lizard cocked its head again, seemingly interested now.

Blaine nodded. "I know. She showed up and took him back. Just like that, she was able to hold onto her sanity and resist the pull of the afterlife. She broke your spell soon after that."

The lizard ran around in a circle on the top of the stone, agitated.

Blaine nodded again. "Yes, she's powerful, that one. But, the ferryman was the one who pushed them back into their bodies really. He didn't count on me touching his arm at the same moment he touched them. I'm still not sure if he's figured it out. Anyways, his magic transported me back here to where my body is. Well, as you can imagine, there's no body to return to. It's all decomposed. So, I was still a wandering spirit. But...it seemed I was visible. Animals could see me. They ran from my presence. They never had before. My strength grew most at night. Soon, I was able to touch things and move them. I knew I was becoming more and more solid with time."

Impatient, the lizard ran back and forth on the stone, trying to find a way down the stone's slick face. Blaine just laughed. "It would seem my body is recreating itself, but I know this is not the case. If I do not find a body to inhabit soon, I will begin to fade again. This time, it may be impossible to come back. It may mean I enter the oblivion of limbo. I won't take that chance." He sat up straighter. "I know you won't mind me ruining your daughter's happy life. I definitely don't mind ruining my brother's. That's why I know exactly who I'm aiming to possess. What's an easier way to become king than to take over his body?"

The lizard flicked its tongue and bobbed its head in approval.

Blaine grinned. "I'm glad you agree." He pushed himself up to stand. "I'm sorry that we must part ways here. You would have made a great queen at my side, Maleficent. But, I'd rather have the younger version of you. She's less competition anyhow." He brushed off his jeans. "Thank you for listening. I do enjoy a classic villain monologue." He grinned, his eyes gleaming. With the next breeze, he disappeared, leaving only the rustle of leaves behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N from original upload on fanfiction.net (12/14/2015): You guys wanted a sequel, so here it is! I still can't thank you guys enough for the awesome response to "Inescapable". I hope you all enjoy this one just as much! Remember to check my profile for periodic news on updates. Give this a fave, follow, and review if you liked it.
> 
> Foarrin


	2. Chapter 2

Mal ran her hands down her torso, smoothing the dress over her abdomen as she admired Evie's handiwork in the mirror. The blue-haired girl had eagerly volunteered to design and make Mal's wedding dress and the bridesmaids' dresses. Mal had no complaints about it. The dresses Evie had made for Ben's coronation had been stunning, and Mal couldn't find a flaw in the work now either.

Her dress was traditional white and lacey. It was strapless and hugged her bust comfortably under her arms. Under her breasts was a purple sash that wrapped around to form a bow in the back just below her shoulder blades. Additionally, the dress was trimmed with gold thread, enough to be noticeable, but not make it stand out too much. Those were the colors Ben and Mal had decided on for the wedding: purple and gold. Regal, but still fitting for both of them. Evie had already picked out matching heels for Mal. They were peep-toed gold pumps with purple bows across her toes.

"You'll have to do one last fitting before the wedding, but it's done," Evie said, straightening the bow of the sash in the back. She looked over Mal's shoulder and into the mirror so she could see both of their faces together. "Can you believe it's just a month away?"

Mal shook her head. Every time someone mentioned the dwindling time until the wedding, her stomach knotted uncomfortably. Sure, she was excited to marry Ben, but she was nervous. It had barely been two months since the coronation and what she thought would be the end of her relationship with Ben or Ben's life itself. He had proposed at his parents' wedding anniversary dinner the month after. Of course, Mal had said yes. She had no reason not to. She had practically, and nearly literally, gone to Hell and back for him. But, she hadn't expected the wedding date to be set for such a short time later. Weren't royal weddings supposed to take a long time to plan? Even normal weddings took at least six months, didn't they? She really had no idea though. On the Isle, people just went to the post office and put in a request for a marriage license to be mailed to them from Auradon. They maybe had a night of drinking and celebration, but that was it. No official ceremonies, no stunning dresses, no huge orders of flower arrangements.

It would be exciting to marry Ben and start their life together. But, even if the approaching date wasn't giving her jitters, the thought of what came after it was. No, not the producing heirs part, even though that was something weighing on her mind as well. It was the thought that she would be made queen shortly afterwards. She had no doubt that she still had magic from her mother. She would never get rid of it. But, the curse had nearly consumed her. She had almost destroyed Auradon single-handedly. Was she ready to help rule it after such a short time being her self-proclaimed 'good' self? Ben said she would make a great queen. She, on the other hand, had her doubts. But, with Ben, she knew anything was possible. Even ruling Auradon.

"And you approve of how the bridesmaids' dresses turned out?" Evie stepped back and turned to Jane and Lonnie, who were admiring their own dresses in the other mirror in the dorm room.

Both bridesmaids' dresses were a rich shade of purple, which matched Mal's sash on her dress. They were both knee-length and similar in design. But, they were each given a touch of individuality. Jane's dress had straps. A sash of gold was positioned under her bust with a gold bow in the center. Lonnie's dress also had a sash and bow, but hers only had one strap that wrapped up and over her shoulder.

Mal smiled. "They're perfect, E."

"And the Maid of Honor?" Evie grinned and slowly spun for Mal. She wore a long purple dress with a sweet heart neckline. This, however, was disguised by lace that covered her collarbone and upper arms to make it appear as a short-sleeve dress. Gold bands wrapped around her biceps as the cuffs of the sleeves, and a gold bow lay in the center of her chest.

"Anything you make is perfect. You know that," Mal said.

Evie stopped spinning once she was facing her again. She put her hands on her hips. "That's not true," she said, blushing. "If it was all perfect, there'd be no room for improvement."

Mal laughed and nodded. "Ok, fine. Did you finish the vests and jackets for Ben, Chad, Jay, and Carlos too?"

Evie nodded. "Yup, and Dude's vest for being ringbearer."

Mal shook her head in amusement. She couldn't believe Carlos had suggested it. Well, actually, she could believe that. Rather, she couldn't believe she and Ben had agreed on it.

"Evie," Jane said, turning away from the mirror. "Mine's a little loose up here." She repositioned the dress up around her bust, frowning.

"No worries, we'll just take it in," Evie said, snatching up a tin of pins from her work station and walking over to the two girls.

As Evie busied herself with Jane's dress, Mal turned back to her own mirror. Once again, she smoothed her hands over the dress, looking at it and thinking. In just a month, she would be wearing this dress again and walking down the aisle. There was still so much left to do and to plan.

Mal sighed softly, imaging how drastically her life would change after the wedding. Belle had already started instructing her on some queen duties, though they would begin hardcore after the wedding.

She blinked at her reflection. She had been daydreaming about the future and had just now noticed that it wasn't just her face staring back at her in the mirror. There was a blond man in the mirror now too. He looked like an older version of Ben. His face was leaner, his features more defined and hard. There was no kindness in his eyes. She almost screamed, her heart jumping into her throat as she looked over her shoulder and back into the mirror. There was no one behind her. But there really was someone in the mirror.

Before she had time to even think of what to do, there was a knock at the door. She looked to it nervously as it opened.

"Morning, girls!" Belle said happily, walking into the room. She carried a binder with her, which Mal knew held all of the wedding planning information. She set it down on the table and began leafing through it. "Mal, I have some finalizations we need to go over real fast. Flowers, place settings, tables..."

Mal didn't hear the rest. She had turned back to the mirror. It was just her standing in it now. No creepy guy staring back at her. Her heart started to calm as she realized she was probably just tired. Imagining things. She moved away from the mirror, refusing to look back at it to triple check. It was time to focus on wedding details.


	3. Chapter 3

Blaine paced back and forth in the mirror. He had made a mistake. He had grown too curious. One of the first things he had learned that he was capable of upon his return from the land of the dead was that he could materialize in the surface of mirrors. This way, he could safely spy on anyone in the room without them noticing unless they looked directly at the mirror. Over the past two months, he had watched Ben and learned as much about his mannerisms and behavior as he could. That would make impersonating him easier after possessing his body. But today, he had grown curious and gone to the mirror in Mal's room. He had wanted to see her and learn more about his own future queen. But he hadn't counted on her being directly in front of the mirror. And she had seen him.

He stopped pacing and exhaled hard. It didn't matter. The silly girl wouldn't know what it meant. She would assume it was a trick of the light or her imagination. His cover was not blown. She had no reason to suspect who he was anyhow.

The door to Ben's room opened. Blaine moved to the edge of the mirror's frame, hiding all but half of his face from view.

Ben strode into the room and dropped onto his bed with a sigh.

Blaine watched him from his post in the mirror. How he hated that his little brother did not notice his presence. How he hated it all. He desperately wished for his moment to come to possess Ben. But, he had been waiting for the precise moment. He had wanted to learn about Ben first while also allowing Ben's physical form time to recover from the torture that Maleficent's curse had put it through. After all, Blaine didn't want to inhabit a damaged body. No, he would let Ben suffer through the pain and then swoop in and steal his body to become king when the time was right.

He edged into the center of the mirror then, suddenly annoyed. Ben was in his tourney jersey and sweaty. He was perfectly healthy if his body was up for such a rough sport already. Perhaps, he had already waited long enough. Plus, he mused, the wedding was only a month away. He needed time to get to know Maleficent's beautiful daughter if he was to share a bed with her on their wedding night.

"Ben," he called from the mirror.

Ben sat bolt upright, having already been in a light doze. The tourney practice had been his first in months, and it had wiped him out completely. "Who's there?"

"Come to the mirror," Blaine said. It wasn't as if he couldn't materialize in the room and go to Ben himself, but the mirror helped his form stay solid even in the daylight with no problem. Trying to hold himself in one place so close to his family while in the daylight was still difficult, and it would be straining enough when he tried to possess Ben shortly.

Ben slowly stood and walked to the mirror. His eyes went wide. "Who are you? You...you look like me."

Blaine rolled his eyes. His little brother was so stupid actually following the instructions of a disembodied voice. No wonder he had almost died. "No, you look like me. My name is Blaine. I'm your older brother." He figured that Ben should at least know the truth before he forced his little brother's soul into submission and silenced him for eternity. Really, if was only fair that he knew of his parents' lies right before he disappeared. "I died before you were born."

"That's not...Mom and Dad would have told me," Ben said, frowning.

"Would they? Honestly?" Blaine arched an eyebrow, watching him. "Why would they say anything when they got the heir they wanted?"

"I..." Ben shook his head. "You're lying. You're a hallucination. I'm just...I'm just tired. Everything's been messed up since I died."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Of course, it has. You let me out of the spirit world when you returned. That's why I'm here now, isn't it?" He grinned. He could tell from the look on Ben's face that he was confusing him, and it was delightfully delicious to do so. It felt good to be in control of something again.

"I...I don't know."

Blaine studied him, looking him up and down. Yes, he definitely seemed healthy enough. The weight Ben had lost from the curse's damage had returned thanks to Mrs. Potts' cooking. But Ben was still too far away to reach. It would take too much power to reach out that far. "Come closer. I have a secret to tell you."

Either Ben was delirious from tourney practice or he was just as stupid as Blaine assumed because Ben leaned closer until his nose was almost touching the mirror. It was then that Blaine struck. He pulled all of his strength together and forced his hand out through the mirror to manifest outside of the reflective surface. His hand closed around Ben's neck and pulled him flush against the mirror.

Ben writhed, struggling against the surface of the mirror and Blaine's grip that was constricting his airway.

Blaine smiled. "Sorry, darling little brother, but your reign is over. It's time for mine to begin." With that, his form vaporized and shot down Ben's gaping mouth as smoke.

Ben coughed and pitched forward against the mirror, gripping its frame for support. He tried to call out, thinking one of his parents or a servant might be near. But he couldn't speak. His lungs were filled with what felt like acid. When he tried to breathe, it burned and his blood raced through his veins at an accelerated rate. He tried to gather his thoughts, to make a sound or movement; anything. But the harder he tried, the more it seemed that he was losing control. It was like he was trying to think on the verge of falling asleep, the thoughts escaping him as quickly as they could form.

He fell to his knees, and his grip on the mirror went slack. Then the world went black.

* * *

Blaine opened his eyes. He was on the floor. Well, that was disappointing. His little brother's soul had been so weak and panicky that he had passed out when he had started the possession. Of course, this had just made it easier to take control and shove Ben's consciousness to the lowest level of subconscious possible. Now, whereas Ben's consciousness had been protesting Blaine's intrusion, there was silence apart from Blaine's own thoughts.

He pushed himself up from the floor and stood. He stumbled and gripped the mirror. He had forgotten how heavy and clumsy the human form was. It was definitely easier as a spirit when movement was fluid and unobstructed by things such as friction and gravity.

He took a few moments to get his bearings. Then he straightened and examined his reflection in the mirror. He brushed Ben's hair out of his eyes. No, his hair. This was his body now, not Ben's. Ben's consciousness might have been in the recesses of the body, but that would change. That consciousness could only survive a short while on its own before it withered up and died. Then Blaine would never have to worry about Ben again. Besides, Ben was so weak and lesser than him, so he wasn't too worried about his little brother pushing back against him and fighting for control again.

"It's good to be back," Blaine told his reflection. He grinned when the mouth moved to match his speech. So simple, and yet it thrilled him to see it happen. He finally had a body again. And it had been so easy to take. At this rate, if impersonating Ben went this easily as well, he would be settled into his kingdom long before the wedding came. The kingdom was his for the taking, and the best part was that no one would ever know he had done it.


	4. Chapter 4

The remainder of Mal's day after the dress fitting had been hectic. She had spent the entire day with Belle going over every detail of the wedding. Belle didn't want to miss anything, and all of the orders had to be made that week to arrive in time for the wedding. Finally, Belle had allowed her to leave and get dinner with the promise that Mal would make a final decision by morning about which necklace of Belle's she wanted to wear for the wedding. But now, Mal could swear she saw swirly fonts and samples of place settings everywhere she looked.

She was exhausted, but she raised a hand to knock on Ben's door. Without waiting for a reply, she eased open the door and slipped inside. She rubbed her eyes. "Jay said you were looking for me? I thought we were going to the park tonight, why the change of..." All of the breath in her lungs dried up, and she breathed the final word, "...plans." She had finally looked up properly and saw the inside of Ben's room. It took her a moment to process it.

White pillar candles had been scattered around every surface of the room and lit. They stood on the dresser, the nightstand, the windowsill, and even the trunk at the end of the bed. Their flames swayed slowly, casting a warm, cozy glow over the room. Red and white rose petals were sprinkled over the bedspread, creating an illusion of blood and snow, of passion and purity.

"Ben?" Mal's heart was lodged in her throat, an uncomfortable, yet exciting throbbing echoing from it through her body and down to the lowest part of her abdomen. They had talked of this. They had agreed to wait until the wedding night. So, what was this? "Ben?" she asked the room again. "Ben, this isn't funny." The last few words came out as a whisper of warm breath.

"What do you think? Do you like it?"

Mal spun around. Ben was standing next to the double doors of his room. She guessed he must have hidden behind the door when she opened it. He was smiling, and the glow of the candles made his hair shine a brighter gold than usual.

"What is this, Ben?" Mal asked, trying and failing to make her tone irritated. "You wanted to wait." She was tired and confused, and all she wanted was to curl up against him and feel his protective arms around her. But...yes, that was cuddling. That and a few select kisses and touches under clothes had been as far as they had gone. It was all Ben had wanted. He had been the one to suggest they wait, had been the one to say he wanted to do it properly with her. She had agreed, but she had also said it was his choice. All she wanted was to be with him, whether that was then or the wedding night when he was ready. But...but...right now? Without telling her? She wasn't...he couldn't be...serious.

"I changed my mind," Ben said simply. He took a step closer to her, his charming smile that she loved so much still in place. "What difference will it make if it's now or a month from now? People will expect it to happen on our wedding night. I didn't...I didn't want that pressure...for either of us."

Mal worried her bottom lip between her teeth, studying his face. "You're sure about this?" she asked softly. "I said it was up to you. I just...I don't want you to make a decision you'll regret."

Ben laughed and took her hands in his, stroking the back of her fingers with his thumbs. "I'm marrying you in a month, Mal. It's so close. Why wait any longer when I want to be with you?" He leaned closer, his head lowering for his lips to find her ear. His breath brushed the shell of her ear as he spoke, his words slow and deliberate to delight her deepest woman desires, "I want you. Completely. Wholly." His fingers traveled over her abdomen, which hugged itself with quiet delight as Mal began to realize he was serious about furthering their relationship in this way. "I'm tired of this space between us when all I want is to become one with you physically."

Mal stepped into him, pressing her body gently against his. Their lips met softly but soon grew hungry, an insatiable desire for skin lighting fire in them. Ben's mouth left a trail of fire down her neck to the edge of her shirt. His hands pleaded with the fabric for the removal, and Mal assented, falling wholly into the mercy of Ben's every touch and kiss.

* * *

Soft morning light met Mal's eyes. She blinked the sleep from them and pushed herself up into a sitting position. A quick glance around the room affirmed their actions from the previous night. All the candles were snuffed out, rose petals littered the floor around the bed, and their clothes lay strewn across various stretches of floor to mark their path to the bed.

Mal brushed her hair back from her face, smiling to herself. She eased herself back down beneath the covers, enjoying the soft touch of the sheets against her naked body. She turned onto her side and pressed closer to Ben's warmth.

She froze.

Ben was asleep and so was the ghostly form whose face was superimposed over Ben's facial features. Foggy and opaque, she recognized the face. It was the same one that she had seen in her mirror the previous day. Now, she was sure it had not been a hallucination. But what did it mean? Was Ben's soul still unstable two months after journeying back from the land of the dead? Even if that was so, why did the soul not look like Ben entirely? The image appeared older, stricter, vengeful, even while resting. Was it possible that more had happened to Ben while dead than either of them knew? Was it possible they had brought more souls back with them or left open some door to the realm of the dead?

She gripped Ben's arm and shook him. The more she thought about it, the more unsettling the feeling grew. The hair on her arms was standing up, alert to something being out of place. Something was wrong with Ben. When he didn't react, she shook him more forcefully.

Ben's eyes shot open, as did the ghostly image's own. Then Ben blinked, and the superimposed older figure dissolved, sinking down into Ben's physical body as if being soaked up by a sponge.

Ben grinned, and his eyes flickered from green to blue and back again as if someone had just flipped the slides of a projector screen. He hadn't noticed the figure at all. "Morning, love."

"Morning," Mal told the stranger tersely. At Ben's look of concern and confusion, she frowned. "Headache," she explained quickly, and he nodded and made to get up.

At they both got dressed, Mal kept Ben in the corner of her vision at all times. She was careful to get dressed only when his back was turned. Because, well, whoever was inhabiting Ben's body was not her Ben. That meant the night of passion she had enjoyed had not really been with Ben at all. Already, this spirit's list of crimes was growing, and if there was a way to kill a spirit, Mal would find it.


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you know about demonic possession?"

Doug yawned, his hand still gripping the door handle from where he had opened it just two milliseconds earlier. "Good morning to you too, Mal."

"Yeah. But seriously," she said, clearly impatient.

Doug blinked blearily at her. She huffed, not having the patience for him to finish waking up. She had rushed to his dorm room the instant she had left Ben's quarters at the palace.

"Alright. Let me get dressed, and we'll go to the library," he said.

She frowned. "Really? We're going to find the answer to this in a book?"

"Do I look like the kind of guy who knows anything about demonic possessions?" Doug reasoned with a frown. When Mal looked away in answer, he continued, "Right, so library it is. Give me a few minutes."

He shut the door, and Mal resorted to pacing for what felt like an hour. Finally, Doug emerged from his room, now dressed in his usual slacks, dress shirt, and bow tie.

"I assume this is a life or death matter," Doug said, adjusting his bow tie.

"Maybe even more important than that," Mal said as they started down the hallway. She thought back over the previous passionate night with Ben - no, not Ben, but the stranger. It made her feel dirty to think her Ben wouldn't have even suggested sex then in the first place, and they had done it. Ben had wanted to wait until the wedding, and she should have considered that something was off with him instantly. She felt violated, both for herself and for her Ben. And on top of that, she felt incredibly foolish that she hadn't caught on to the false Ben immediately.

As they walked, Mal explained about the false Ben. She left out any mention of the night they had spent together except to say she fell asleep in Ben's room accidentally and had then noticed the weird ghostly form in the morning.

Doug didn't question her. He just sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "You guys could have brought a spirit back with you when you were rescuing Ben."

"That's what I thought, but does that mean Ben's been possessed for two months and no one's noticed?" That thought made Mal even angrier and now guilty that she might be so blind as to not even recognize something off about her own fiance. Hell, if Ben had been possessed for two months, was she even engaged to the real Ben?

"I don't think so," Doug said. "You said you saw the apparition in the mirror yesterday."

"So? He could come and go from Ben's body at will possibly," Mal said.

"It was just a hypothesis, Mal," Doug said wearily.

They entered the deserted library, and Mal hovered over Doug's shoulder as he used a computer to search the library's catalog.

"How hard is it to find a book on possession?" Mal demanded after a few minutes of Doug's typing and clicking, straightening up and beginning to pace behind his chair. "There can't be that many books on it here. Just click the first one."

"Mal, that's the issue. I'll have to use more vague terms to find a book with any mention of possession. It may shock you, but we don't exactly do a lot of reading up on black arts and other dark magic, which I assume this is." Doug kept typing different terms into the search bar, finding the results unhelpful as the search either turned up ten thousand book suggestions or zero depending on his search. It would take a few more minutes to narrow down the results to something relative.

Mal glared at the back of Doug's head as she made another pass behind his seat. "I know," she said sharply. Then she sighed and added calmly, her voice pleading, "Just find something, ok?"

* * *

Ben was fighting back.

Blaine grimaced as Ben's consciousness pushed against his control, attempting feebly to regain his body. Blaine shoved his brother back into the recess of his mind and continued buttoning the cuffs on his dress shirt.

His baby brother was more tenacious than he had given him credit for, and Blaine hated to admit that even to himself. Especially to himself because, as a side effect of sharing the same body, Blaine knew Ben could read his thoughts. He didn't need Ben knowing he thought he had any chance of taking back control. That would only give Ben more confidence and strength to try to overpower him. This thought-reading did not work in reverse since Blaine's soul was the foreign intruder. For now. That would change once Ben's mind was fully suppressed. But, now it would take more mental energy than Blaine had anticipated. Ben had been smart and had tried his first real attempt to regain his body that morning when Blaine had been asleep. Ben might have succeeded in ejecting Blaine's soul if Mal hadn't startled him awake.

Because of that, he had no doubt that Mal knew. She had seen something alarming about him and shaken him awake. He was sure of it. And her behavior afterward had only cemented this belief as fact for Blaine. She had turned away from him to get dressed, despite that he had brought her so much pleasure the previous night. And when she had spoken to him, which she hardly did that morning before rushing off to "do homework," her tone and words had been clipped.

He had to do something, and fast. He had already underestimated Ben; he would not make the same mistake with the daughter of Maleficent. He couldn't afford to.

 _She'll kick your ass as soon as she figures out how to do it without kicking mine as well_ , Ben's voice said in his mind.

Blaine scowled at his reflection in Ben's floor length mirror in his bedchamber. "I'm sure she will," he said aloud. There was really no need to. Ben could already know what he was about to say a millisecond before he spoke it. But speaking aloud seemed to just rub in the fact that Blaine had primary control of Ben's body. "That's why by this time tomorrow, Mal will be out of the game. At least consciously. Then we'll play a whole new game. I will rewire her mind so she won't question me. It will take some time, but it will work. So, I assure you, little brother, you will soon take that ferry ride to the afterlife like you should have done two months ago. Because, make no mistake, Mal may have magic, but I have learned manipulation of the mind, which is wholly more powerful."


	6. Chapter 6

Mrs. Potts hesitated just outside Ben's bedroom door. She carried a breakfast tray for the king, the silver tray laden with the usual eggs, bacon, toast, tea, and orange slices. She had stopped outside the door when she heard Ben speak, having not wanted to intrude if he had a guest. Regardless of who would be in the king's bedroom at this early hour, whether his parents or his girlfriend, it wasn't polite to barge in, breakfast tray or not.

But, after a few moments, Mrs. Potts realized that Ben seemed to be talking to himself. She could hear him clearly through the door, and from the sound of it, he was plotting something sinister. That certainly didn't sound like the Ben she knew; not one bit!

Unnerved, she hastily knocked on the door and delivered the tray. Ben gave her a stiff "Thank you," took the tray, and shut the door in her face. That was definitely not right; Ben was always polite and cheerful when she delivered his daily breakfast tray. If she hadn't heard him speaking, she would have simply written this peculiar behavior off as stress or the possible product of a fight with Mal or his parents. But, alas, she had heard him, and clearly, at that. When he had opened the door, she had cast a quick glance around the room over his shoulder. There was no one else in the room, and there weren't many places one could hide in the bedroom. Surely, he had been speaking to himself. Yet, he had addressed someone as 'little brother.'

Something was wrong. She wasn't sure what yet, but she had to confirm her fears to someone else. With that, she gathered herself and strode off to the dining room where Beast and Belle would be having their own breakfast. However, along the way, she was stopped and sidetracked by several other servants with emergencies. Cogsworth had twisted his ankle when descending from the ladder he had climbed upon to adjust the hands of the clock on the mantle in the lounge, and Mrs. Potts had to help the limping man back to his quarters. Lumiere was distraught over an unextinguished and unattended candle from dinner the previous night having singed a sizable hole in the white tablecloth in the dining room, and Mrs. Potts made him tea to calm him while they discussed how to fix it. And then Plumette had a problem with the new furniture polish they were trying out staining the cabinets with a sticky white residue, and Mrs. Potts helped her clean the mess off. As such, it was almost two hours later when she finally located Beast and Belle to explain the oddities of their son that morning.

She found them in their lounge. Mal was already there. The purple-haired girl was standing, her posture rigid as she addressed the retired royals. Belle sat on the couch, a book clutched in her lap in trembling hands from where she had obviously had her reading interrupted. Beast stood by the towering bookcases, nursing a glass of amber colored liquid. Must have been bourbon, Mrs. Potts assumed. Beast only drank bourbon when stressed. From the somber expression on his face, this was obviously the case.

"We have to do something quickly," Mal was saying. "If we don't, Ben's soul could be lost forever."

Belle appeared as if she was about to start sobbing, so she looked relieved to see Mrs. Potts standing in the doorway, even though she was unannounced. She seemed both eager and hesitant to change the subject. "Oh, Mrs. Potts, come in. What is it?"

Mrs. Potts stepped inside the lounge and shut the door behind her. "Apparently, nothing Mal hasn't already discovered. I'm afraid this is about Ben too."

* * *

Mal's irritation over Mrs. Potts's intrusion quickly turned to relief once the woman began explaining her reason for her visit. Someone else had noticed Ben's peculiar behavior! This was the backup she needed to make Beast and Belle act quickly. They hadn't dismissed her concerns; they really did seem to believe her on the subject of Ben's possession by another spirit. They had been through too much peril with Ben's last near death scare to risk not believing her now. Plus, she was becoming more like a daughter to the both of them with each passing day leading up to the wedding. But even in light of that, having Mrs. Potts to support her theory would add urgency to the matter.

"But, you say you just noticed this change in behavior this morning, Mrs. Potts?" Beast asked.

The woman nodded. "He's been perfectly himself up to today."

Beast swallowed a large gulp of his bourbon and nodded. "And, Mal, same for you as well? You said you saw the apparition in the mirror just yesterday?"

Mal nodded. "So, we can reasonably say Ben's only been possessed for less than twenty-four hours. Doug and I found minimal information on possessions, but what we did find stated that a soul cannot flit in and out of a body. Once the foreign soul is ejected, it can't possess the same body ever again. But if it's permitted to stay, it will soon become the dominant soul and eject Ben's. Ben will be sent right back to the spirit world. We have to work out how to expel the soul."

"But shouldn't we be asking who is possessing him?" Belle asked. "Who would want to do this?"

Mal shrugged. "It's a good question. After all, whoever it is has already been dead for a while if they've learned possession."

Belle nodded gravely while Beast drank more of his alcohol.

"So," Mal said and huffed out a sigh. "Where do we star-"

A knock on the door cut her off, and the four occupants turned to stare at the door. No one moved, and the caller at the door didn't announce themself like they should have.

The door opened, and Ben stepped into the room. He grinned broadly, deviously. "You wouldn't happen to be discussing me, would you?"

Mal wanted to smack the smirk off his face, and she had to remind herself that her Ben was still in there or she might have done it. "No. We're discussing wedding plans. Plans the groom isn't supposed to know about." There was no reason to tell the truth. That would only give the stranger a chance to arm himself against anything they tried.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Don't lie to me, Mal." His eyes grew darker as his smirk stayed the same. "I'll drop the act if you will. I've been listening outside the door for the past twenty minutes. It's quite entertaining to hear you all panic and hypothesize."

"Who are you?" Beast growled.

Ben turned his attention to the older man. "What, don't you recognize your own son,  _Dad_?"

Belle gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as her eyes widened in wonder and horror.

Ben addressed Beast's quizzical look by rolling his eyes. "See, a mother never forgets, though she tries to. I mean, you both visited my grave just the other day for my birthday, but that is the only day you choose to remember I existed."

The glass in Beast's hand shattered as his grip suddenly constricted around it. "Blaine?! But, you...you should have moved on. You were four, and now..."

"Now, I'm twenty-one, yes, bravo, you can count," Ben sneered. "As for me not moving on, my rage over you so quickly siring a new heir is what kept me here around the palace. My spirit became more solid once Ben and Mal's little trip to the spirit realm resulted in the ferryman accidentally sending me back to the realm of the living as well. Now, I exist in between the worlds, and they made it possible for me to gain strength and possess my dear baby brother's body."

Mrs. Potts pointed at Ben. "I told you," she said, addressing Belle and Beast. "I heard him say 'little brother' in his room earlier. It must be Blaine."

Belle nodded stiffly. "Our Ben certainly wouldn't know about Blaine, you're right."

Mal frowned, thoroughly confused. "Wait, someone explain. Who's Blaine exactly?"

"Our other son," Belle answered quietly. "He was four when we lost him to pneumonia. Then, we had Ben the next year. We've never told Ben about him."

Mal stared at her. They had kept that from Ben, but why? Was it simply too painful to talk about?

Beast dusted the glass shards from his hands and stormed over to Ben. He gripped his shoulders. "You let my son go, Blaine. Ben, son, fight back if you can hear me."

Ben scowled and jerked out of Beast's grip. "So, that's how it's going to be, is it? You'll only acknowledge him as your son when I am the rightful heir to this kingdom." He sprung forward and touched his hand against Beast's face. The man crumpled to the ground, unconscious from a simple touch. "You get what's coming to you then."

Mal stood in place, horror rooting her to the spot. He had barely touched Beast and knocked him out. What kind of magic was that? "No, don't!" she said just as Ben had cupped Belle's face in his hands, and she dropped unconscious on the sofa. Belle hadn't resisted him, having realized both at the same instant that Blaine was evil but that she still wanted to hold the four-year-old she had lost so long ago.

"Stop this, Blaine!" Mal shouted. She turned to Mrs. Potts. "Go! Get Doug and fill him in."

"If you value my parents' lives, Mrs. Potts," Ben snapped, "you will stay."

Mal's heart constricted as, at the same moment, Mrs. Potts nodded and Ben's hand closed around Mal's wrist. She had put her back to him and allowed him to sneak up on her. Big mistake.

Ben spun her to face him and drew her against his chest. She tried to push him away, but her arms were pinned tightly between them. "Mal," Ben breathed and reached up to stroke her cheek.

Mal wanted to ask what he wanted or shout a nasty name at him, but she felt her strength suddenly vanish. Her eyes wanted to close. Her knees buckled. The world went black.

* * *

Blaine felt Mal's mind shut down the instant his fingertips brushed her face. He slowly lowered her to the floor and laid her down carefully. When he straightened, he frowned at Mrs. Potts.

"What did you...are they..."

"They're not dead," Blaine said. "They're asleep. They're in comas controlled by me. Even now, though you can't see it, my parents are having horrific nightmares about me. Mal's mind is simply in limbo until I wish to play with her later."

"You won't get away with this," Mrs. Potts said.

"On the contrary, I will," Blaine countered. "Because, if you tell a soul about me or what is going on, I will shut off my parents' wills to live. You saw how easily I put them to sleep. It will be the same except they will immediately cease breathing." At Mrs. Potts's horrified expression, he grinned. "I expect you to keep them in this room under lock and key. Only you and I are allowed inside. I also expect you to monitor their health and report to me. But for the moment, leave. Find Doug and tell him what has happened and that if he breathes a word to anyone, the punishment will be the same. He won't want that blood on his hands. Understand?"

Mrs. Potts nodded hastily and scurried from the room.

Once she had gone, Blaine shut the door after her. He strode back over to Mal and crouched beside her shoulder. He began arranging her hair around her head so it appeared she was floating in water. Then he positioned her hands over one another on her abdomen. He was treating her like a doll. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her neck. In her ear, he whispered, "After I'm done with you, you will not be able to resist me. In just a few weeks, you'll be my queen and then we shall have our own heirs. Sleep tight, my princess."


	7. Chapter 7

Mal awoke with the feeling that she had been asleep for several days. She also had the distinct feeling that she wasn't awake at all. Rather, she felt trapped in a fog, almost like that of a dream she couldn't quite remember the details from. This was a reasonable physical assessment too because, the moment she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on her back in a purple-gray smoke.

There were no walls, floor, or ceiling that was not made of the dense smoke-like substance. It shifted within invisible confines, creating the architecture of the space in one color and giving the sickly illusion of the space swaying.

When Mal sat up, her head spun, and she was disoriented for several moments. She leaned back on her hands. While the floor shifted in its smoky state, it was still as solid as if it had been hardwood. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend she was in a regular room and not in some hazy limbo state.

What was this place anyway? Was she...dead? The last thing she could recall before the blackness was Blaine touching her. What had he done to her?!

"The first conscious trip into the subconscious can be disorienting, I know," said a voice.

Mal sat up and looked around.

"Kind of a paradox, I suppose," continued the voice.

A doorway materialized out of the wall to her right. A corridor stretched into the distance lit by purple flamed torches that hung on the walls at intervals by similarly spaced out doors on both sides of the hall.

Blaine stood in the doorway, his cold features exactly as Mal remembered seeing them in the mirror.

"Where are we?" Mal asked and got to her feet.

"I told you. The subconscious mind. Yours, if we're being exact." Blaine adjusted the cuff of his dress shirt - Ben's dress shirt. "We are in no physical place. It is your mind we are wandering through."

"And how are you here? How am I here? I've never..." Mal thought. No, she really hadn't seen this place even in her thoughts or dreams.

"Well, of course, you don't recognize it." Blaine held out his hand to her. "Walk with me. I'll explain."

Mal ignored his hand but stepped into the hallway with him. That was better than being stuck in a dead end room. At least now, she could move around a bit more freely.

As soon as she passed through the doorway, it closed behind her so she was trapped in the endless corridor with Blaine. The purple flames cast a ghostly light as they began walking.

"Explain," she snapped, crossing her arms over her abdomen when he offered her his arm. He was acting as if they were on a stroll in the park.

Blaine pocketed his hands and was silent for a few more steps. Then, as they passed the fourth set of torches, and likewise the fourth set of doors, he said, "The subconscious mind is not something you notice."

"Obviously."

He ignored her interruption. "The subconscious is where our memories, dreams, and fears are stored. Likely, if you can't remember something clearly, it's stored down here. Often, things are locked away to keep us from more pain. People say time heals all wounds. That's a lie. If you could tap into your subconscious where that memory or fear is stored, you would experience the pain freshly as if it were happening all over again."

"So, how are we here now if this part of the mind can't normally be accessed like this?" Mal knew Blaine could be up to nothing good, but surely, if she got him talking long enough, she could figure a way out of here, even if it was her own mind. She had to wake up.

"I put you into a coma. It's a perk of the powers of being a spirit. We have a type of magic no one else does. Since I'm a spirit, I can travel to your mind by touching you."

"Are you possessing me then?" If he was, that meant he could never enter Ben's body again, so that would solve part of the problem.

Blaine laughed as they passed another set of torches. The purple light cast shadows across his cheekbones, making him appear gaunt and skeletal for a moment. "No, I can remain in Ben's body while projecting my thoughts to you. Right now, you're lying on the lounge's sofa, and I'm sitting beside you holding your hand. The drawback to this though is the passage of time. In here, it probably feels like we've been talking for five minutes. In reality, it's been five hours."

Mal stopped walking instantly. "Five hours?! And how long have I been out total?"

Blaine shrugged a shoulder, stopping a few paces ahead of her. "A week, maybe more. Our wedding is in about two weeks, you know. That time will seem like mere hours to you here."

"I-" A week?! Who knew what havoc Blaine could have caused in a week's time. She had to wake up. Soon.

"So, I'll get to my point then, since we're pressed for time the more we stand here and chat."

Mal raised an eyebrow expectantly. Every second she wasted asking him questions of insulting him now meant minutes or hours she was wasting in the real world to stop Blaine.

"In two weeks, Ben's soul will have passed on from his body, and his body will completely be mine," Blain said. "On the planned day, you and I will be married and rule as king and queen of Auradon together."

"As if!" Mal protested, but she quickly hushed. Time, she was wasting time. She needed to listen and wait to see if there was a flaw in his plan.

Blaine frowned at her. "As I was saying, we'll be married, rule together, and produce heirs to continue my lineage. In time, I'll decide what to do with my parents. Right now, they're experiencing horrific nightmares in their own subconsciouses. But, you have a choice, Mal."

She seriously doubted it but stayed silent as he kept talking.

"I can wake you up now if you agree not to attempt to pull Ben's soul back from passing within the next two weeks. Let his soul go onto the next life without interfering. If you feel that you cannot control yourself, I will leave you here to suffer through the torment of your own mind."

The rage that had built in Mal's chest at Blaine's words quickly turned to confusion. "What torment?"

Blaine nodded to the door closest to them. "Each of these doors leads to a different painful memory or fear or dream. After so long in your subconscious, you will not be able to resist opening the doors. Plus, there's also an incentive. A few of these thousands of doors can lead back to your conscious mind, effectively waking you up instantly without my help."

"Why are you telling me something helpful?" Mal asked, suspicion laced in her words.

Blaine grinned. "Because, it's entertaining. In your desire to get yourself to wake up so that you might help fight to put Ben back in control of his body before his soul is forced to relinquish its grip, you will possibly go through hundreds of doors. And once you open a door even a crack, you must experience what's inside. The experience may just be a flash of memory that last a few seconds or a minute, but as I said earlier, a minute in here is an hour in reality. So, if it takes you hundreds of doors, you will be wasting most of your time. Then, regardless, I will wake you up after Ben's soul has passed and we will be married."

Mal narrowed her eyes, realizing now that he had no intentions of waking her up at the moment. He wouldn't take the chance of her fighting him in reality. He would leave her here with the torment of knowing she could escape and wake up if she suffered through enough of her worst memories and fears first. Even then, he was much too confident that she would never pick the right door to escape in time. But, that was her only option if she wanted even the slimmest chance to rescue Ben.

"Go to hell," Mal hissed.

Blaine laughed. "That's what I'm trying to avoid, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind." He gave her a finger wave and disappeared, leaving Mal alone in the dark shimmering purple corridor with the thousands of doors leading to her worst nightmares.


	8. Chapter 8

Doug hadn't listened to Mrs. Potts's frantic warning from Blaine. It was a classic villain move to scare the opposition into taking no action to stop said villain. And if there was anything Doug was certain of, it was that it was always possible to stop the villain of a story no matter what they claimed. The whole Isle was proof of that. The villain's threats were typically the product of one of two things - overconfidence in their plan or a fear that the chink in their armor would be found and targeted. Doug was betting on Blaine being a member of the latter group.

That's why, after promising Mrs. Potts everything would be kept safe and secret, he immediately found Evie, Jay, and Carlos and filled them in on the situation. He figured they didn't apply to his promise. After all, he would need help in finding a way to either defeat Blaine or wake Mal up. He hoped that if they could only pull off the latter that Mal would take care of the other half of the problem. She had already proved twice in the past few months that she had a talent for saving Ben's life.

A week after Mrs. Potts's news, the four friends were no closer to a solution than they had been originally. They couldn't risk telling someone else about Blaine. It was already incredibly difficult to act ignorant around Blaine when they saw him as Ben at school. If too many people knew and started changing the way people behaved around 'Ben', Blaine would surely figure it out, and he would kill Belle and Beast.

How Blaine planned to get away with a double murder if the need arose was a mystery to Doug. But, he guessed it would involve some type of "travel accident." Over the past week, Belle's, Beast's, and Mal's disappearances had been explained as impromptu trips to prepare for the wedding. Supposedly, Mal and Belle were on a mother-daughter bonding trip in a private cabin in the mountains, and Beast was off preparing an expensive wedding gift in an obscure town in northern Camelot.

To Doug, these sounded like weak cover-ups, but perhaps this was because he knew the truth. No one else questioned it because Blaine played Ben so well. No one else suspected anything, and why would they? If Ben's behavior or mood were a little off, anyone would write it off as wedding stress. They would never assume that Ben had been possessed by the soul of his deceased brother no one remembered. That would just be absurd.

"What are we going to do?" Evie asked for the third time that day, laying her head down on her arms.

It was going on their fourth hour at the library that day. All week, the four of them had stayed in the library from the minute classes let out for the day till closing time. They split up the work, having two people browsing internet articles and the other two researching from books. But, so far, their efforts had proved fruitless. Doug was beginning to think that the only source of information on spirit possession available in Auradon was in the one book he and Mal had found a week ago. All that had been was a paragraph description and had said nothing about how to exorcise a soul.

"Keep looking," Carlos answered without looking away from his computer screen. "That's our only choice."

"It's been a week," Evie said, raising her head. "The information simply doesn't exist. At least not here."

Carlos frowned and stopped typing his next search. He looked down at the desk, contemplating hard for several long moments. Then he slowly said quietly, "We're looking in the wrong place."

"What?" Jay asked, glancing up from his computer opposite Carlos's.

"I said, we're looking in the wrong place. Evie's right; the information doesn't exist  _here_. But, it does exist."

"Such as where?" Doug asked and closed his book and stacked it on top of eleven others next to him that he had already combed through.

"Think," Carlos said and spun around in his chair to face Evie and Doug at their study table. "No one in Auradon would want students of heroes and other good guys reading dark magic books, so they got rid of them. I bet you anything that was one of Beast's early orders was to get rid of any evil references to prevent accidentally raising any more villains."

Doug nodded, catching on. But then he frowned. "He would have burnt them. Actually, I'm fairly positive he did. It's in the proclamation archives somewhere."

"Ok, yeah," Carlos said. "But what if there were some he overlooked because he never had them?"

Evie gasped and shook her head, her eyes wide in horror. "Of course. There's a library at Dragon Hall!"

"Dragon Hall?" Doug asked.

Jay abandoned his computer and moved around the computer stations to sit in a chair next to Evie. "Yeah, it's the school on the Isle."

"There's a school on the Isle?" Doug asked.

"Hey, we weren't completed uneducated before we came here," Jay grumbled.

Doug's cheeks flushed. "No, I didn't...I just...I never thought about it. I don't know a lot about the Isle. No one really does since it has that barrier."

"Anyway, yeah, there's a library at Dragon Hall. Well, it's..." Carlos suddenly turned pale. "Crap. The spider."

Both Jay and Evie shivered at the mention.

"What? What spider?" Doug asked.

"The library is forbidden, and only Dr. Facilier has the key," Jay told him. "Yeah, we could easily pick the lock, but there's a spider the size of a cauldron that stands guard in front of the doors. No one has ever messed with that thing. Villains may be devious to get what they want, but they're not  _that_  stupid to mess with a monster like that over some dusty volumes."

"But, you're saying this library could hold the answer we need?" Doug prompted after several seconds of silence.

Carlos nodded. "Almost definitely. If there's anywhere we'll find a book about possession and exorcisms, it'll be there."

"That's great news," Doug said, "but how do you suggest we get that information? Even if we were to go to the Isle, what about the spider and the other villains?"

"There's no 'we' going to the Isle," Evie said flatly. "At least, not where you're concerned." When Doug opened his mouth to argue, she hurried on, "Someone has to stay here to be in the loop with what Blaine is doing. That has to be you. We know the Isle best, obviously."

Doug nodded, slightly annoyed. He was interested in seeing the Isle for himself, but he realized now was not the time to test his luck arguing when there were so many lives on the line. "So, all three of you are going?"

"I don't think we have a choice," Evie said. "It'll take all three of us to get there and back safely. I mean, we're going to have to steal the remote control that opens the barrier from Ben's limo anyways. And we can't take the limo to drive there. Blaine will be sure to notice that missing."

Carlos and Jay nodded, their expressions solemn.

"So, when do we leave?" Jay asked.

"Tonight," Evie said and stood.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the back of the library, Blaine sat on a windowsill and played with a plastic yo-yo. He had been there for hours, just listening to the foursome research quietly and tap at the computer keys. Occasionally, they would chat, and he could hear most of what they said. But he didn't try to get any closer in case they heard his footsteps.

He raised his wrist, and the yo-yo traveled back up its string into his waiting palm. He smiled when he heard mention of the spider at Dragon Hall. If Evie, Carlos, and Jay got killed on their rescue mission to the Isle, that would only make his job easier. No one else would even dare trying to get to the Isle, even Doug, without the VKs to help. After all, if Mal's closest friends couldn't pull of a heist in their old stomping grounds, who else could have even the smallest hope of doing so?

And they thought they were so smart snooping around and planning right under his nose. They thought he didn't have a clue, but he had caught on quickly. None of the four of them looked at him the same anymore. Even if they tried to have normal conversations and look him in the eye as they did so, there was a stiffness in their postures and sometimes their words that they could not disguise. So, he had figured it out pretty quickly that Doug had told Mal's three friends. And honestly, he had expected Doug to do this. Well, if they wanted to go on a suicide mission to try to help Ben and Mal, Blaine wouldn't stop them. Let them run to their deaths. That would only leave Doug to deal with then. And deal with him he would, as soon as the other three had left for the Isle.


	9. Chapter 9

Doug bid Evie, Jay, and Carlos goodbye and watched them go before moving to put away the books they had pulled from the shelves. He was saving the librarian work since she had left early due to a family emergency. Her absence hardly mattered though since the library would magically lock itself at eleven.

Going over countless worries regarding his friends going to the Isle, he carried a stack of books around in one arm and replaced the volumes on their respective shelves with his free hand. After traveling through several aisles to find the next slot for one of the books, his shoulder and arm holding the stack of books aloft were cramping. He readjusted them, shifting the stack to his opposite arm with a grunt. As he did so, he thought he heard a footstep behind him.

In the millisecond it took him to hesitate before his instincts could even begin to tell him to look around for the source of the noise, a thin cord slipped around his neck and pulled taut. He choked, and the books toppled from his arms. Several fell on his right foot, and the pain made him recoil. His back hit something solid, and even in his stressed and adrenaline rising state, he could tell it was a person.

"I warned you," a familiar voice hissed in his ear. Ben's. So, that meant...Blaine.

Doug tried to force a finger under the thin cord constricting his airway. Already, he was seeing spots from the combination of lack of air and surge of panic. This quickly resulted in confusion and disorientation. He was an academic, not an athlete. He knew nothing about self-defense, and even if he had, his panic and fear at the moment would have likely made those lessons leave his head immediately.

Doug grunted painfully, losing what little air was left in his lungs when Blaine shoved him against the bookshelf in front of them.

"I really had hoped we could be friends. I could have made you into something great when I'm fully in control of this body," Blaine said with a laugh, making his sarcasm obvious. Blaine only moved his hand to wrap the yo-yo string around Doug's neck several more times and pulled it even tighter.

Doug struggled against Blaine, but it was weak. Black ringed the edges of his vision, and his limbs felt heavy and limp. The increased pressure from the layered cord made it impossible swallow, impossible to draw breath. His knees buckled, and the cord cut into his skin as he fell to the floor.

The world went black.

* * *

Mal hadn't kept track of how many doors she had opened in her subconscious's corridor, but she was sure it was somewhere close to three hundred, or maybe five hundred. She wasn't sure. Either way, she was running out of time. It seemed impossible that she would be able to find a door leading back to her consciousness that would allow her to wake up.

She almost wanted to just sit down in the hallway and wait for Blaine to come get her. She wasn't sure how she was still sane. Her subconscious was every bit as evil and frightening as Blaine had said it would be. Most of the doors she had opened had revealed scenes of death, whether this was herself, her friends, or Ben. Seeing her own death, typically by her mother's hand or drowning, was bearable. She could check that she was still alive. As for Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Ben, her mind was starting to make her think some of these things could be real. Maybe she was really witnessing their deaths.

Scenes of Ben's deaths were the hardest, in part because they were the most plentiful. Sometimes, she killed him with her magic. Other times, he was hung, beheaded, disemboweled, eaten, crushed...

Mal shut the door on another scene of Ben and slumped back against the door. If it were possible to throw up in her subconscious, she would have done it many times by now. Instead, she had to settle for squirming feeling in her stomach as if she was about to puke but never got the satisfaction of emptying her stomach. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the unnatural bent shape of Ben's body from that door. He had been twisted into a position that wasn't physically possible without breaking several bones first, including many ribs and vertebrae.

Mal swiped her hair back from her forehead. For some reason, it was impossible to vomit here, but she could sweat and cry endlessly and not pass out from the resulting dehydration. It was strange and frustrating, but she hardly noticed it anymore. She could no longer tell what was sweat and what was tears from the combination of panic and sorrow at the scenes her own mind was subjecting her to.

"One more," she murmured to herself and pushed off from the door. This had been her mantra for the past hundred or so doors. She had to believe that the next door she tried would lead to her awaking up and, in turn, her freedom. But it was difficult to force this belief into her feet to make them move and carry her forward to the next door. But she had to. If she stopped moving, she would simply lie down in the middle of the corridor and curl into a fetal position.

Body shaking and palms slick with sweat, she opened the next door in the hall.

Wrong again. The scene behind this door revealed Maleficent advancing on Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Mal recognized the interior of their old loft on the Isle. The boys tried to shield Evie from Maleficent, but one swift swing of Maleficent's scepter sent Jay crashing to the floor. He did not stir again, and Mal thought she saw where his skull had caved in from the blow.

As with all of the previous doors, Mal found herself unable to look away from the scene until it finished. It was as if someone stood behind her, forcing her to stand in place with her face forward and her eyes held open.

Once Maleficent had killed Evie and Carlos as well and turned to grin at Mal triumphantly, Mal felt movement return to her limbs. She shut the door instantly.

She dragged the back of her hands over her eyes, trying to clear her vision of tears. Her chest felt hollow and brittle, numb. But she forced herself on. "One more," she whispered, the words nearly a plea to her treacherous subconscious.

But as she passed under the purple glow from another torch on the wall, a blob of white smoke materialized in front of her. For a moment, Mal wondered if her nightmares were beginning to tire of waiting on her and had decided to spring free of their doors and hunt her down themselves. Or maybe it was Blaine. She was so exhausted and emotionally broken at the moment that she would have gladly followed him out as long as she woke up outside of this place.

"Doug?" Mal blinked slowly, both from fatigue and the want to make sure she was seeing clearly. Maybe it was a hallucination.

"Mal!" Doug was panting as if he had just run a long distance. "I'm so glad to see you. I wasn't sure it would work."

Mal severely wished he had just kept talking and explained instead of pausing to await her response and inevitable questions. She didn't want to speak. She wasn't even sure how she had managed saying his name after her voice had grown used to only muttering the words 'one more' over and over. In truth, she didn't want to speak more than that. Her throat was raw from crying and screaming. Trying to form her mouth into any other sound than those or those two words was like rubbing sandpaper over her vocal cords. But, Doug wasn't a mindreader, and she didn't have time for him to guess all her unspoken questions. She didn't have a choice - she would have to speak. "How are you here? How did you get past Blaine?"

She had quickly decided he couldn't be a hallucination. Her mind still had plenty of methods left to torture and kill her friends and Ben before it resulted to less close friends.

The faint smile that had been on Doug's features instantly vanished. "I didn't." He swallowed. "Blaine killed me, Mal. I'm dead. My soul was pulled by some invisible force to Skull Island, and it took everything I had to resist the pull to get on that boat. I only made it back by concentrating so hard on Evie. But I came to you. I thought that maybe this would work now that I'm...well, yeah."

Mal blinked at him. "I...wow. I'm so sorry, Doug." She was stunned, and she thought she sounded a bit unsympathetic. But she supposed that was because she had witnessed hundreds of deaths and the truth of what Doug was saying hadn't truly sunken in yet to penetrate the numbness in her chest.

Doug nodded, and a look of despair seized his features. "Evie doesn't even know yet. She's still on the Isle with Jay and Carlos."

"What?" Mal's voice broke when her surprise attempted to increase its volume. She swallowed, even though there was no saliva to help wet her throat. "Why are they there?"

Doug quickly filled her in on the plan to access the library at Dragon School. "But, that was almost two weeks ago. They're still not back."

Somewhere in the numbness in her chest, Mal's core turned to ice. "What do you mean two weeks?"

"I tried to get here as quickly as I could, Mal. I really did. And I'll try to help you in whatever way I can," Doug said.

"Get to the point!" Mal barked even though it felt like she was ripping her throat to do so.

"Mal...your wedding is in two days."

Mal's head spun, and her legs buckled and folded neatly underneath her, sending her to the floor in a sitting position. If Doug spoke to her, she didn't hear it. All she could think of was how in two days she would have lost Ben forever. Blaine had promised that by the time the wedding came, Ben's soul would have been ejected from his body. Since Blaine hadn't come back for her yet, she could only assume Ben was not gone. Yet.

Tears streamed down her face, mingling with dried tears from hours earlier and old sweat. Ben would be gone soon. And Blaine would find a way to make her do his bidding. After seeing what she had in all the previous doors, it would be so simple for Blaine to force her to marry him, or do anything really, if he threatened any of her closest three friends. There was much more on the line here than she had thought. Her whole world hinged on what would happen in the next two days, and those days would pass in minutes in her subconscious.

She had to do something. Had to stop it. Had to wake up.

Now.


	10. Chapter 10

"We can't just wait for Blaine to show up," Mal said, walking toward the next door in the endless hallway. She had just hurriedly filled Doug in on the whole coma and subconscious situation. Even though she still doubted the door she needed was within reach at all, they had no time to waste.

Doug caught her arm and pulled her back. "Mal, you've been here going through doors for weeks now, you said. Let's come up with a better method."

"Like what?" Mal snapped, tears stinging at the edges of her eyes. She pulled her arm from Doug's grasp and wiped at the tears. "The doors all look the same. If there was a pattern...or...or something, I should have found a way out by now."

Doug dropped his hand to his side and looked down the corridor. He studied it for a moment before turning his head and scrutinizing the hallway in the other direction. "Mal, the doors do look different. Their outlines glow different colors."

"What?!" Mal turned her attention to the nearest door, which was just over Doug's left shoulder. Her gaze flitted around the four edges of the door and narrowed, but there was no glow anywhere. "What are you talking about?"

"Just what I said. The doors give off a different color glow. Maybe that refers to what's behind them," Doug suggested. He shrugged. "Let me check back the way you've come and see what colors you've already gone through."

Mal nodded, though she was highly skeptical. How could Doug see something she couldn't in her own mind? She crossed her arms and waited. Skeptical as she was, she was still willing to try anything that might release her from this mental hell soon. She had to save Ben and Auradon.

After several minutes, Doug returned, out of breath as if he had run back.

"Well?" Mal asked. They had already wasted ten minutes, which meant ten hours had passed outside. They were pushing the limit. Already, Ben was likely only holding on by a thread.

"All dark colors. Blue. Purple. Green. Maroon."

"Doug! Useful info! I can't see the glow. Tell me which door to open."

Doug nodded and led the way down the corridor to doors Mal hadn't touched yet. His head swiveled left to right and back again as he surveyed each door. "More of the same," he muttered.

Mal followed behind, counting the seconds in her head as they walked. Any moment, Blaine could show up, and the game would be over. Blaine would have won. Ben would be gone forever, and she would have to either marry or murder a maniac. Neither option sounded pleasant, but if she lost Ben, at least her mind had given her plenty of ideas on how exactly she would kill Blaine for his crimes.

"This one," Doug said after quickly brushing past over a hundred more doors, stopping so suddenly that Mal ran into him. For being dead, he was very solid.

Mal took a step back and looked at the door he had indicated. It looked identical to all of the doors before. Nothing glowed or looked special about it in any way. "How can you tell?"

"The glow around it is yellowish-white. Like daylight," Doug answered. "Just try it. We don't have a lot of time if what you said about minutes in here being hours out there is true."

Mal nodded, though as she stepped closer to open the door she still didn't see any glow radiating from the door or anything. She reached forward and turned the knob. As she opened the door, daylight streamed in and everything went white, blinding her.

* * *

Mal sat bolt upright on the couch in the royal lounge, gasping for breath as if she had been underwater for a long time. Someone in the room with her screamed shrilly, but she didn't notice. She was awake. Abruptly and wholly awake. The oxygen in her lungs felt raw as if the air were made of fire. But she didn't care; she was awake. She had woken up from a horrible nightmare.

She looked around, wanting to immediately celebrate with Doug and thank him for seeing what she couldn't in her own head. But all she saw were the bodies of Belle and Beast laid out on air mattresses beside the couch and a startled Mrs. Potts clutching a bowl and rag to her chest. The water from the bowl had spilled down her front, soaking her apron. Doug was nowhere to be seen. Mal's euphoria instantly dimmed as reality hit her. Doug was dead. And someone would have to tell Evie.

"Mrs. Potts?" Mal coughed and cleared her throat. It was hard to talk, and she sounded like a frog. Mrs. Potts was shaking, obviously frightened out of her mind. From her position a few feet away and the slowly drying damp spot on Mal's forehead, Mal guessed the woman had been dabbing her face and then gotten a shock when she sat up so quickly. Who could blame her? It was like seeing the dead walk again.

"Y-yes?" Mrs. Potts blinked several times. She was so used to her immobile and silent patients in the lounge that seeing one of them talk again was causing her to lag in reaction time. "How did you..."

"Doug helped me," Mal explained and swung her feet off the couch onto the floor. She tried to stand but sat immediately again, her legs not wanting to support her just yet.

"Doug's been missing for a week. No one's seen him," Mrs. Potts said, blinking once again.

"I'm afraid Doug is dead. Blaine killed him because he told my friends about the situation. Please, can you tell me if Evie, Jay, and Carlos are back yet?"

"Back? They...no one has seen them either, but I just figured...and Doug, oh my goodness. No." She clutched the bowl and rag closer to her chest, still seemingly oblivious to the water drenching her front.

Mal didn't have time for this. She was still on subconscious time where a minute equalled an hour. But even if she stopped to think about it and realize she had a bit more time now that she was awake, it would have made little difference. She had to find a way to stop Blaine, and who knew how long that might take.

"I know," Mal said. "It's awful. I've barely had time to process it either, but please, this is important, Mrs. Potts. We're running out of time. Can you go find out if Evie, Jay, and Carlos are back? Can you help me get to my room to check?"

Mrs. Potts nodded. "Y-yes. I'll go check. And I'll bring you tea." With that, she left the lounge, leaving Mal alone with her two unconscious almost-in-laws.

Mal moved her legs, thinking while trying to regain feeling in her legs from lying down so long. She needed to move. She didn't have time to wait on Mrs. Potts to make tea. But, honestly, what else did she expect? When there was trouble, royalty always thought a good cup of tea could fix it in a snap.


	11. Chapter 11

Mrs. Potts followed through on her promise. Thirty minutes later, Mrs. Potts returned to the lounge with a silver tea tray laden with four teacups, a large pot of tea, and a plate of powdered sugar cookies. Evie, Jay, and Carlos filed in behind her.

"Sorry, would have been here sooner, but somebody was taking too long in the tub," Evie said with a grin before shooting a playful glare at Carlos.

"What?" Carlos said with a frown. "That spider's guts were rank. I don't want my room smelling like that. It was bad enough it got in my hair and-"

"Anyways," Evie said, turning back to Mal. She walked around the royals on the air mattresses as if this was the most mundane thing she had seen all week. Mal had to remind herself that this was probably true. Whatever had happened on the Isle with the library and the spider made Auradon a cake walk.

Mal shifted a bit as Evie sat down beside her on the sofa. Jay and Carlos remained standing while Mrs. Potts began pouring the tea. "So, you got it? Like...a book or something that will help?"

Evie nodded, and Jay produced a leather-bound tome from behind his back. " _Spirits and Possession 101_. Well, that's not the real title," he said as he handed it to Mal, "but it might as well be."

Mal laid the heavy book in her lap and frowned. "You're sure the information we need is in here?"

"Yes, I'd rather not discuss the details of the trip, but we had time to peruse it while we were tangled in a certain spider's web," Carlos said.

"He means literally," Evie said, her voice grave. All three of them gave involuntary shudders with the reminder of the memory.

Mal decided not to press for the details. "Ok, then let's find Blaine. Get this over with."

"You should read it first. It's a spell, so you'll be the one doing it," Carlos said. He took the offered cup of tea from Mrs. Potts and thanked her.

Mal nodded. "Right."

"And we should find Doug," Evie said. "Fill him in."

Mal stiffened, and she watched Evie sip her tea for a moment. "Evie..."

"Drink up. Tea helps the nerves, dear," Mrs. Potts said briskly, pushing a steaming cup of tea into Mal's hands.

Mal blinked and took it gingerly. She sat it on top of the book in her lap. It was more than sturdy enough to support the thin china. She stared at Evie, trying to think of how to tell her. She would find out either way eventually. She had to tell her.

Mal forced herself to sip her tea after several moments while Jay and Carlos looked around the lounge. Normally, only the royal family would be present, so they had never seen the interior of the lounge before. Neither had Evie, but she didn't seem as keen to explore the room. Mal kept moving her feet, slowly trying to make sure all the feeling had returned to her legs. This gave her something else to focus on besides Evie and the horrible news that awaited her.

"So..." Evie said, setting aside her empty cup. "We do need to hurry. Your wedding is tomorrow night."

Mal nodded, and what felt like an anaconda inside her stomach writhed. "I know. But...Evie..." She sighed and set her cup and the book on the coffee table in front of them. "Evie, you won't find Doug."

Evie blinked, clearly confused. "Where's he gone? Surely, he wouldn't go on a band trip during this crisis. I know there was an away game, but-"

"Evie," Mal said, cutting her off by laying her hand over Evie's and squeezing firmly. "No." She swallowed. The tea had helped her recover her voice and warm her vocal cords, but now, she seemed lost for words again. She closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment and gathering her courage. She opened her eyes. "Evie, Doug's dead."

* * *

Reading over the instructions for forcing an unpleasant soul out of another person's body was one thing. Executing it would be entirely different.

"It says we have to do it where he's buried," Mal whispered to Jay and Carlos. They sat on either side of her on the sofa, their shoulders pressed against hers so they were close enough to hear her breathe. They were all reluctant to have to speak any louder than necessary for fear of Evie getting upset by anything else.

However, this was unlikely. The news of Doug's murder had been the hardest blow Evie could have ever received. He had been nice to her since day one at Auradon Prep, and he had helped her in so many ways that she had long ago lost count of all the reasons she loved him. And yes, she really did love that dork.

Upon hearing about his murder, Evie had collapsed in a state of shock before bursting into loud, body-racking sobs. Mal had tried to comfort her, but she had only curled into a ball and refused to look at or speak to anyone. She only managed to tell Mal to figure out how to get rid of Blaine because that was what the angry part of her wanted right then. She knew it wouldn't bring Doug back, but destroying Blaine's plans would be somewhat bittersweet. And, because they had only a small amount of time to figure out how to do so, Mal had abandoned Evie on the floor with extreme reluctance. It was difficult for Mal, Jay, and Carlos to talk over Evie's sobs and Mrs. Potts's continued efforts to offer Evie water, food, a blanket, and anything else she thought would ease the girl's grief in any way since the physical side of things were the only things with a hope of being treated.

Mal massaged her temples as she tried to focus. She couldn't and wouldn't tell Evie to be quiet. And Mrs. Potts was only trying to help. But still, they needed a plan, and it was increasingly difficult to think with all the noise. "Do either of you have any idea where Blaine's body is buried?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Family mausoleum?" Carlos guessed.

"Doubt it," Mal said. "Ben would visit a family grave, and they were trying to keep Blaine a secret from Ben."

Jay and Carlos fell silent. Just then, Mrs. Potts returned to them to offer them more tea. Evie had apparently accepted her most recent attempt to force-feed her some tea and was sipping her tea in the corner by the bookcase now between sobs.

"Would you three like more tea?"

They all nodded. If nothing else, it gave them something to do and something to keep them warm. With how things were looking so far, a cold had settled in Mal's chest, and it would not be easy to move. If Ben died, it would never go away.

Mal watched the woman pour tea into their three cups. She sat up a little straighter after a moment, an idea occurring to her. "Mrs. Potts, you knew about Blaine."

Mrs. Potts didn't look up, still focused on pouring tea. "Yes, I knew. I was there for his birth."

"What about his burial?" Mal asked. "Do you know where he's buried?"

Mrs. Potts set the teapot down on the tray and frowned thoughtfully. "Yes," she said after a moment. She straightened up and smoothed her apron, which was a different one from the drenched one she had worn half an hour previous. "I can give you directions, though the grave is hidden in the woods, so it may be a bit tricky. Only Beast and Belle ever visit. It may look a little different all these years later. Why? You need it for the spell?"

Mal nodded and took up her fresh cup of tea. "Yes, the only thing with a strong enough pull on Blaine at this point is likely his original body. Bones, dust, whatever's down there in his grave. That's how we'll force him out. We're going to re-bind his soul to his body. This time, he'll stay dead."


	12. Chapter 12

Blaine paced in Ben's room, his steps sure but agitated. So, murdering Doug had backfired drastically. He had helped Mal escape her mental prison.

 _Not...so...clever...now...huh?_ came Ben's voice in his head. Ben's voice reflected his pain. It came out breathy, like he was being crushed under a boulder and could scarcely draw breath. It wouldn't be too much longer until he was silenced completely and his soul would pass on, giving Blaine full control of the king's body.

"Oh, shut up," Blaine hissed and turned to pass the mirror again. His baby brother's voice didn't pipe up too often now, and it was annoying when it did. He would be able to tell when Ben passed, so he knew he was still present. But he sometimes forgot Ben could chime in whenever he had saved up enough strength.

Blaine turned back to the open laptop on his bed. The screen showed a live feed of the royal lounge upstairs. Evie was currently blubbering in a corner. And Mal, Jay, and Carlos were huddled on the couch, pouring over a book. They were speaking too softly for the camera Blaine had placed to pick up and transmit their words.

So, those three had made it back from the Isle safe and sound. Figured. He should have done something to interfere. Now, they were back and armed with an instruction book and Mal's magic. He didn't like that combination, but at least it was less than twenty-four hours until Ben would die. Then, it would be futile to stop Blaine. They would have to destroy Ben's physical body and find a way to explain that to the country. They would be put away as murders and forever condemn any of their kind from being given a second chance in Auradon ever again.

Blaine huffed and shut the laptop in frustration. If they wouldn't speak louder, he might have to go there to eavesdrop. Yet, he knew he couldn't go near them. That was dangerous when they were possibly armed with the right tools to destroy him.

He sighed and began pacing again. He would just have to wait them out.

The bedroom door suddenly swung open, and Blaine stopped to stare at it. There was no one in the doorway. Only the empty corridor outside faced him. He hadn't even moved to shut it when the door instantly slammed shut, rattling some of Ben's tourney trophies on the shelf near the door.

Blaine narrowed his eyes, immediately catching on to what was going on. How many times had he tried tormenting his family with ghostly scares? "Whatever you're planning, Doug, it's a bad idea. Your time of helping is up."

As if in direct response, the floor-length mirror to Blaine's right shattered, its surface now a spiderweb of breaks and distorted reflections of the same thing.

"Now you're just being unreasonable," Blaine said. "I liked that mirror."

Blaine crossed his arms over his chest, trying to predict Doug's next move. It was typical for vengeful spirits to throw child-like tantrums. And murder victims were typically vengeful for some reason. Honestly, Blaine thought it was better if Doug would just let it go. "Come on, Doug, let's be reasona-"

Blaine screamed as pain ripped through his skull. It felt as if someone were drilling a hole directly between his eyes. He collapsed to his knees, holding his head in his hands as the pain expanded through the rest of his body. "Stop!" he yelled. "It's too many souls in one body! And you'll kick Ben out quicker. You're hurting him too."

But still the pain didn't stop as Doug's forced intrusion continued. Blaine's limbs felt light and out of his control as if he were a puppet on strings. No longer in control of his own movements, he was forced to his feet. He tried to fight back, tried to stop his feet from moving forward, but he only stumbled and fell out into the hallway.

Again, the puppeteer inside him forced him to his feet and began dragging him down the hall one painful step after another. Blaine tried to push back at Doug's influence where he had gained a partial possession, just enough to control Blaine's movements but not be inside his head. But the more he fought, the more he hurt. He slammed into walls and tripped up steps as Doug led him through the palace toward the one place he wanted to avoid. And Blaine knew it too. He knew Doug was leading him toward the lounge where Mrs. Potts, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos were sitting plotting his demise. Doug was trying to help, trying to speed up the process by finding Blaine for them instead of sending them on a chase until time ran out for Ben as Blaine had planned.

As they got closer to the lounge, the door now in sight, Blaine fought harder. But now, he could feel the press of Ben's consciousness pushing back. Ben was feeding off of Doug's strength enough to attempt to push Blaine back. And it was working. Blaine may have been in control mentally, but his movements were becoming more and more fluid as Doug and Ben gained motor control.

With one final clash of will power, Blaine found his head slammed into the doorframe of the lounge. His head spun, both physical and mental pain making him dizzy and nauseous.

The door flew open, and Blaine tried to move, but his feet were rooted in place. He stood face-to-face with Evie. Her face was streaked with tears and mascara. Immediately, Blaine felt the control of his limbs return to him as Doug pulled away and Ben's consciousness subsided to a murmur once more.

Blaine tried to moved. He tried to speak. But he was too weak. The battle against Doug and Ben had drained him too much and he had had no time to recover. That's why when he saw Evie's fist raise and arm pull back, it was as if everything were in slow motion. He knew he couldn't raise a finger to stop her. He was about to pass out as it was.

Her fist connected with his jaw, causing his teeth to clash together and the taste of blood to fill his mouth. But it didn't last for long. He blinked his eyes closed. Everything went dark. And he could feel himself falling.


	13. Chapter 13

"You think that's tight enough?" Mal asked, stepping back from the headstone. She frowned at Ben's bloody face, struggling to remember that Evie had hit Blaine and not Ben. Same body, but her reasons were justified. The blood had dripped from his mouth where Evie had obviously caused some damage within. Now, the dried blood was on his chin, making him look like a sleeping vampire. His head was tilted forward, unsupported, as his torso and arms were bound to the headstone, his back pressed against the engraved name.

"I don't think he'll be up to moving even if he becomes conscious," Jay said. "Evie clocked him pretty hard."

Evie just grunted in disapproval, her arms crossed tightly over her abdomen as if she were restraining herself from further harming Blaine.

"Let's just get started," Mal sat, sitting where she stood and pulling out the spellbook her friends had retrieved from the Isle. Evie sat beside her while Carlos and Jay moved to stand beside the headstone on either side of it. Mrs. Potts had shown them the way to the gravesite but had wished to return to the safety of the royal car.

"Just remember, guys," Mal said, glancing up at the boys. "Don't touch him unless absolutely necessary. You could get affected by the spell if you do, so just...be careful."

As they nodded, Mal returned her attention to the book, scanning the spell they had found to evict Blaine's soul and bind him back to his bones. She took a deep breath and took Evie's hand. If she didn't do this quickly and correctly, then they both would have lost their special someones. Mal didn't even know how Evie was containing her tears at the moment.

Mal let out the breath, focused her gaze on the page, and began to recite the spell. She enunciated clearly, forcing confidence into her voice. As she reached the end of the first stanza, a breeze stirred up out of nowhere and Ben began to rouse.

Mal squeezed Evie's hand. She couldn't interrupt the spell, so Evie spoke for her. "Try only to touch the ropes if you've got to intervene, guys," Evie said.

As Mal kept reading, Ben's eyes opened suddenly, but she knew instantly that it was Blaine who turned those cold hard eyes on her. She raised her voice, feeling like she was punching the words out into the air with her voice.

"Stop!" Blaine shouted. "You'll send us both to the afterlife, Mal. You'll lose him too."

"Don't listen to him," Evie said as Mal's voice faltered, thus separating a one syllable word into two syllables with an odd hic in the middle.

"I'll drag him back with me, I swear it!" Blaine's eyes were sharp, staring at Mal. "You know what I'm capable of."

A pang of anxiety pressed in on Mal's chest, threatening to cut her off with a sob. What if that was the case? What if she was just damning Ben to death even sooner by doing this spell? But surely, this was Blaine's last card. His last defense: mind games.

"Mal. Stop. This," Blaine hissed.

Mal raised her voice again, very nearly shouting at him now. And it was working. He had jerked back against the headstone as if suddenly being crushed by an invisible wall.

"NO!" Blaine wheezed. "STOP!"

Mal stood and pulled Evie to her feet. Their hands remained joined, and Mal balanced the spellbook in her left arm. She was shouting the words now, the wind she was creating whipping her hair about her face like a flag. She was almost finished. Would it work? Or had she not done it right from the beginning? But she couldn't stop. This level of magic was already draining her. She wouldn't be able to repeat it. This was it.

Blaine's eyes slid out of focus, turning glassy and distant. "No," he whispered, barely a breath. "No." The second time, his voice had changed. It was no long harsh and deep. It was that of a child. He was being bound to his body, and his decayed body was four years old. It was working. "Please," he cried in the same high-pitched four-year-old voice. "Please! Stop!"

Tears stung Mal's eyes, but she pressed on. She had to finish. She had to remember what he had done. Sure, he had died a scared four-year-old, but that didn't change what he had become after death.

"I just wanted to be remembered," Blaine told the sky, his head tipped back against the top of the headstone. His eyes still were glassy and blank. "They forgot...once they had him. They...replaced me. Then..."

Choking on her tears that were threatening to spill forth, Mal spoke the last two lines just as Blaine said, "...I no longer mattered."

Blaine jerked and went still. The wind died, and the clearing was silent. Ben's eyes stared at the sky. Unblinking. Unmoving.

Mal's hand slid from Evie's and the spellbook toppled from her arm as she collapsed to her hands and knees. Blaine had been a child all along. Death and time and jealousy had corrupted him. And she had sent him back. She had had to. And she was too tired to argue with herself over the strange mix of relief and remorse swirling in her chest.

She raised her head to look at Ben. He was still tied to the headstone, the taut ropes securing him so he couldn't fall to the side. And he wasn't moving. His eyes stared up as if to Heaven.

"Ben?" Mal's voice was hoarse now. The spell had taken too much out of her. "Ben." She crawled forward on her hands and knees, her lungs refusing to function properly. Had Blaine been telling the truth?

"Untie him," she whispered, broken.

Silently, Carlos and Jay bent to do as she asked.


	14. Chapter 14

Once Ben was untied from the headstone, Mal moved forward on her knees until she was inches from him. She took his face in her hands and tilted it down so she could see into his eyes. He still wasn't responsive.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Mal asked no one in particular. "What went wrong?!" Her voice rose in a screech as she turned Ben's face one way and then the other to examine his vacant expression.

Evie bent to pick up the spellbook and turned it back to the earmarked page Mal has read the spell from. "It doesn't say anything about side effects on the host body or soul."

"Did Blaine push him out with him at the same instant?" Carlos asked. "We knew Ben was weak."

Mal dropped her hands from Ben's face and glared at the headstone over his shoulder. "No," she hissed. She slapped her palm against the top of the headstone and pushed herself up to her feet. "No, we did not go through all of that just to lose him at the last second." She dragged a shaking hand through her purple mane and turned away from the grave. "We can't have," she whispered, closing her eyes tightly against the tears.

_Mal._

Mal's eyes shot open before she realized no one had spoken out loud.

_Mal, it's ok._

"Doug?" Mal whispered.

"What?" Evie asked.

Mal waved a hand in dismissal. Doug's voice was so soft inside her head, and she needed to concentrate on his words.

 _Yeah_ , Doug answered.  _I sort of tagged along. Ben's fine. Blaine just pushed his soul super deep. I'm going to go in and draw him out. Just don't interfere. Everything will be ok._

Before Mal could respond, she felt some cold leave her body with a shiver, and needles of warmth crept back into her chest. She hadn't even noticed Doug had been with her. And now she felt immensely better now that he wasn't sharing the same space as her.

Mal turned back to Ben's body. "Doug's here," she told her friends.

"What? Where?" Evie asked, looking around.

"We can't see him. I...he said he's going to help us out. We just need to wait a moment."

"What does that-"

But at that moment, Ben gasped loudly, jerking upright. He doubled over, coughing with his head between his knees.

"Ben!" Mal rushed forward and dropped to her knees beside him. "Ben." The latter came out as a soft, relieved breath.

Ben's coughing stopped a few seconds later, and his breathing slowed. He leaned back against the headstone. "Damn."

"Yeah, I know," Mal said.

"No, it was like Doug just pulled me up from drowning. My lungs are burning. I think I was losing control of body functions and fading." Ben closed his eyes, taking deep breaths for a few moments. "Thanks, Doug," he whispered.

"Is he still here?" Evie asked softly.

Mal wondered if any answer would be good for Evie. No matter what, they couldn't bring him back. This wasn't like saving Ben the last time or now. Both times, there had been a small part of his soul hanging on that would allow her to pull him back. Doug had been separated from his body for too long, and they didn't even know where it was.

"Yes," Ben answered. He paused as if listening to something. Then, "He'd like to talk to you."

"I...how?" Evie asked.

Ben pushed himself up to stand. Mal stood as well, wary of Ben's strength and whether he should be moving so soon, but she didn't say anything to stop him.

Ben looked at Mal. "I'm going to let Doug take over for a minute or two."

"But-"

"I'll be fine," Ben said. "This isn't like Blaine. Doug's not pushing me out or trying to drain me. It won't hurt me. He just wants to say goodbye."

Mal hesitated but then nodded. Evie needed this. She needed some hope of closure. Mal would have Ben back now, but this was Evie's last moment with Doug.

Ben nodded too and then closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Mal could tell the control had shifted to Doug. He held himself differently and looked at Evie with such love that Mal felt a pang of jealousy simply because it was still Ben's face.

"Evie," Doug breathed, stepping forward and pulling her into his arms.

Mal turned away, not able to watch. She knew it was Doug doing this, but she couldn't see past the exterior that was Ben's face. She crossed her arms over her abdomen and walked away into the trees. The crunch of leaves and twigs behind her told her that Carlos and Jay had followed her in silence. Evie and Doug needed to be alone for this.

* * *

Evie was stiff when Doug pulled her close. It was strange. This was Ben on the outside, and it even sounded like his voice. But it was also Doug. "Doug, I-"

"I know it's weird," he said as if he had read her mind. "But it's me, I promise. This is the last chance we'll get."

Evie instantly found herself crying, and she clung to him. Shutting her eyes tightly, she imaged Doug there in his own body, and she was able to relax a little.

"I'm sorry," Doug said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to...to say goodbye."

"I know," Evie said into his shoulder, the words slightly muffled.

"Evie," Doug said with a sigh. "Please, don't let this ruin you. It's ok to move on."

"Don't," Evie said sharply, her arms tightening around him. "Don't say that."

Doug didn't speak for a moment. When he did, he kissed the crown of her head before doing so. "It's ok."

"It's not."

Doug stroked her hair. "What's done is done, Evie. I can already feel the pull to go to Skull Island again. I'll have to go in a few moments. And I'm taking Blaine with me. If I don't, he'll become a nameless wandering soul."

"So?" Evie said, growing tense again at the thought of Blaine intruding on their last moment together.

"Evie, he's just a child. He's scared. I've got to take him with me and make sure he crosses. And, he can hear you. He's just behind the headstone, crying."

More tears ran down Evie's face, wetting his shirt. "Don't go. Please." She knew it was pointless, but her logic didn't seem to want to cooperate at the moment.

"I have to." Doug gave her a squeeze. "I won't ask you to look at me, but..." He pulled back a bit and tilted her chin up to kiss her softly, sweetly.

It ended all too soon for Evie, but she had the feeling it could have lasted forever and it still wouldn't have been long enough.

"I love you," Doug said and exhaled heavily. His shoulders slumped, and his hands dropped from her body.

Evie immediately pulled away, turning her back on Ben. Doug was gone. But she still whispered "I love you too" to the silent clearing.

* * *

Mal had watched Carlos and Jay pass her silently and go back in the direction of the car. She leaned against a tree now, her arms crossed over her chest as she waited. She knew what had to be happening in the clearing, and she kept having to fight off a mix of jealousy and sadness.

She looked up at the sound of footsteps. Evie was walking toward her, her arms crossed over her abdomen as if she would vomit if she didn't keep hugging herself. Ben followed a few steps behind her.

Evie gave Mal a weak smile that really seemed like a grimace as she passed her and followed the direction the boys had gone to the car.

Ben stopped in front of Mal. He smiled softly.

Mal swallowed. "No more near death experiences, 'kay?"

"Okay." Ben grinned.

Mal launched herself forward, hugging his neck tightly. "I love you," she whispered over and over against his shoulder and then in his ear.

Ben kissed her shoulder and hugged her. Finally, they were able to relax into each other's embrace.

"What now?" Mal asked softly after several moments of silence.

"Well, we do have those plans for tomorrow," he said and laughed.

Mal pulled back and grinned at him. She wasn't even worried about queenly duties or saying vows in front of all of Auradon now. It was great just to have Ben back safely. "Oh, right," she said with a laugh. "I can't wait to marry you, and only you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N from original upload on fanfiction.net (9/30/2017): Thank you guys so much for sticking with this story through its sporadic updates and long periods of inactivity. Please review as I would love to hear from you guys. This story is now complete and will not receive any updates. You can check out my other descendants stories from my profile. Happy reading!
> 
> Foarrin


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